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I’ve decided to set a goal for myself this year. I love reading new children’s and YA lit, but I also want to pass on my love of older books. You know, those books I read as a child and then reread, over and over. It’s time for me to reread some of those classic favorites and

pass them on to my students. So my goal for 2010 is to read at least 5 of those favorites and then share them with my students. As long as their awesomeness stands the test of time, I will booktalk them to my classes after completing them.

I have a no challenges policy, personally. But I do think that yours is a good one. I recently re-read A Little Princess (which I adore, but would not necessarily recommend for a broad range of modern-day kids). Anyway, I hope you enjoy your re-reads. I’ve been considering giving Emily of New Moon a fresh look myself. Enjoy!

Hi Anne,
I read Where the Red Fern Grows to a class of 3rd and 4th graders in 1983, The ending had the toughest boy in class reduced to tears. Some 15 years later I ran into a student from that class in the grocery line and he immediately remembered me, and began recounting how that book had made such an impression on him.

Much to everyone’s delight in the check-out line,he recalled in great detail how the tough kid from our class, “Mikey”, couldn’t stop crying and how shocked we all were. I remember being a bit worried about Mikey that day because he demonstrated such raw emotion and vulnerability in front of all of us that I thought I might get a worried call from his home–but Mikey and I bonded after that story-and the entire class viewed him a bit differently after that experience and realized some kids hold a lot of things inside and sometime they tumble out in surprising ways.

My 5 Challenge books are:
The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell
White Fang by Jack London
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
A Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter

Oh, I LOVE A Ring of Endless Light….I haven’t thought about it in years. Now I have to go over to my mom’s house and search my old bookcases for it!

I’ll have to think about which classics I want to reread (or maybe read – I’ve never read, say, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier). But I like this idea and it’d be good for my students to try some things that might stretch their understandings of good literature.

I, too, love Ring of Endless Light. It was my favorite Madeleine L’Engle book when I was a teenager, before I read some of her adult novels. Such a good book.

I’ll be reading Heidi and Tuck Everlasting with my middle school girls book club. Maybe some other classics, too, since I just joined a Books of the Century Challenge. I have a no challenge policy, too, but I couldn’t resist.